deathtrap

Sysop, You never did answer though. Do you work for the company or just a raging advocate for their products. Just want to know if I can come to you when I want to try and buy, if you are an official representative for the company. thanks

Fair enough.......thanks for your answer, medium pimping.....check.

I'm just curious....... Do you work for the company? It appears so when you say that "WE are ready to propose you a special wing for this new and rapid upcoming sport and the kind of active rest" Your post looks a lot like advertising for the products. I thought advertising products was forbidden in the forums and I have seen moderators jump in quickly because of that. I'm really surprised they're letting you do it. hmmmm.. I've done a little speed flying myself and the minimal air intake on the nose looks like it would make it pretty difficult to kite up in low winds. just my observations, where are you moderators, I've been jumped on way too many times, not fair!

Nice spin, eh? So Jim "cut" Kevin a month after he quit the team? Yeeaaaaahhhhhh

Absolutely! Refusing to pack a rig is not the same as grounding a rig. Tell the customer the reasons you don't want to pack it, and now that they're informed that there might be something unsafe with it, let them find someone else to pack it, and/or start saving for a new piece of equipment.

I'm talking GEAR. Everyone in this thread seems to be hung up on reserve parachutes, and I agree that grounding stuff based on age alone is a "lowest common denominator" solution. However, when it comes to other parts of the SYSTEM, such as the HARNESS, how can you ensure that the webbing and THREAD are structurally sound without doing destructive testing? It's no secret that some rigs see as much wear, tear and exposure in one year of jumping as many rigs see in 20+ years. We don't have reserve parachutes blowing up left and right, and we don't have jumpers breaking harnesses left and right, either. So for the most part, I would say the system as it's in use, is not broken. BUT there are an increasing number of riggers that don't want to make a judgement call, and want to defer everything back to the manufacturers. If this keeps happening, manufacturers will implement rules and guidelines to keep themselves out of court and there will be lots of jumpers left holding perfectly airworthy gear that's not legal to jump. So riggers, EXCERCISE THE PRIVILEDGES THAT YOUR TICKET GIVES YOU

I don't see any manufacturers in here selling fear, there are plenty of skydivers and riggers that do that juuust fine. But when you come up with an accurate, non destructive way to test for UV degredation, be sure to share it with the group, OK?

Hi Jeff, I'd like to build a Mirage

Hi Jeff, I'd like to build a Mirage

Have you ever seen a main that has several hundred jumps on it, where the center cell top skin trailing edge is discolored heavilly? All of that is due to a sweaty arm being run up the skin to squeeze the air out. I know PD has patched MANY canopies in that area, and not just due to the little holes that often pop up from the grommets pinching the fabric. Generally, the other cells are just fine.

I've been trying to wrap my head around this concept, but maybe you can explain it a little better. How exactly does compressing a packjob (generally from outside a bag or container) stretch the canopy fabric? I always thought the majority of fabric wear from packing came from the salt and oils transferred from the packer's skin/sweat.

Too Bad for Team X and swooping. Kevin was the most experienced active competitor on the team and a great guy. What canopy will he be flying for the speed flying stuff? Any ideas what the future of Team X is?

I heard that Kevin quit Team X does anyone know anything? Was this an internal conflict? Broken Promises from Jim? Is he going back to a Velo? So is it only Jessica, and Nick left on the team right?

sounds like a pretty bad idea, there is a lot more going on with a line set then just the length, where the cascades are located will also effect how the canopy will (or won't) fly. I'm sure you could get some sketchy rigger to do this for you, it might even work, but it's playing with fire if you don't fully understand what's going on. this reminds me of a quote I heard once about building pilot chutes "if you don't fully understand why and how they work, you better copy them Exactly"

You may want to check your facts before posting... The Pilot is a Hybrid canopy, F-111 ribs, nothing wrong with hybrid canopies though, as long as the F-111 isn't on the top skin.